Charges: Homeless man beat married neighbors under Magnolia Bridge with homemade club

Prosecutors say the defendant's attack was unprovoked

Updated 4:40 pm, Thursday, August 27, 2015

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Police say Stacey Davis was beaten to death and her husband was seriously injured in a brutal Monday night attack under Seattle's Magnolia Bridge. Their 52-year-old neighbor Allen Pulphus was charged Thursday for the attack. less

Police say Stacey Davis was beaten to death and her husband was seriously injured in a brutal Monday night attack under Seattle's Magnolia Bridge. Their 52-year-old neighbor Allen Pulphus was charged Thursday ... more

Charges: Homeless man beat married neighbors under Magnolia Bridge with homemade club

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Charging documents say the man arrested for Monday night's fatal beating under the Magnolia Bridge attacked a married couple without provocation using a wood and metal club he fashioned himself.

Allen Robert Pulphus, 52, is charged with second-degree murder for the death of 48-year-old Stacey Davis and first-degree assault for the brutal assault of her husband, Scott Davis.

The assault set off a five-hour standoff between SWAT officers and Pulphus at his tent, which was located about 50 feet away from where the couple's tent was situated.

He was hospitalized after being shot by a SWAT officer, but booked into King County Jail Wednesday.

The couple had reportedly lived in the area for two to three months near Pulphus and had seen him on several occasions.

The couple had reportedly returned to their tent near 15th Avenue West and West Garfield Street to prepare dinner about 9:30 p.m. when Scott Davis was struck in the back of the head by an object wielded from outside the tent, probable cause reports say.

The attack continued, and when the fly netting was ripped off the Davis' tent, they could see the assailant was their neighbor they knew as Allen, wielding a 5-foot-long piece of wood with metal wrapped around its end, records indicate. He continued to hack at the couple, tearing into their tent and ripping it to the ground.

Scott Davis told police that at one point he tried to disarm Pulphus, prompting Pulphus to take Scott Davis to the ground and try to break his neck, calling him "the devil," reports say.

Pulphus then reportedly picked up his club again and repeatedly struck Stacey Davis. Her husband ran for help and tried to flag down cars on 15th Avenue West. No one stopped, so he headed to the nearby Center for Sex Positive Culture to report the incident to some of the center's patrons outside, the probable cause says.

Officers arrived and found two transient people who lived across the street from the Davis' camp. They reported they heard a man they knew as Scott screaming for help and one of them checked on Stacey to find her lying on top of her tent with serious head trauma. The transients pointed police to the Davis' tent, where firefighters confirmed Stacey Davis to be dead, reports say.

A police dog led cops to Pulphus's tent, where officers could hear a person inside, according to court records. They heard a male voice yelling out nonsense and it sounded as though he was swinging a heavy object and hitting items inside his tent.

The man inside defied several officer orders to exit the tent. Police cut a hole in the side of the tent, revealing a naked, bloody-handed man matching Pulphus's description. Patrol officers tried to release pepper spray into the tent, but it rendered no effect on the man. Officers called a hostage negotiator and a SWAT crew.

After a five-hour stand-off, Pulphus allegedly tried to crawl out the back of his tent and run away, prompting SWAT officers to fire at him with unspecified less-lethal munitions, according to probable cause reports. However, the weapons also had no effect on the man.

While Pulphus reportedly ran toward the west, a SWAT officer shot him in the right leg, causing him to fall to the ground.

Medics took him to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of his injuries.

Scott Davis suffered multiple large cuts to his head and a large puncture wound to his left clavicle area, police say.

Stacey Davis also suffered a broken right arm and clavicle, reports say.

Pulphus has a criminal history that includes multiple convictions for drugs, forgery, misdemeanor assault, obstruction, resisting arrest, third-degree theft and property destruction. Kline wrote that he has a long record of failing to show up to court.